Judge Rodriguez-Chomat, Jailer Of Teen Penelope Soto, Has History Of Violence, Second Lowest Approval Rating Among Local Attorneys (InformationLiberation)Judge Rodriguez-Chomat, the judge who sentenced teenager Penelope Soto to 30 days in jail to show his dominance over a small little girl has a history of despicable behavior. In his previous "job" as a republican politician in Tallahassee, he violently assaulted a fellow party member by physically grabbing him and wrestling with him over an argument on school vouchers, he had to be pried apart from the victim by security guards and fellow legislators who intervened to stop his violent assault. Additionally, the judge reportedly has the second lowest approval rating out of 99 judges according to local attorneys, with 46 percent saying he is unqualified to sit on the bench.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jorge Rodriguez-Chomat, who made national news by sending a disrespectful young woman to the slammer for a month this week, was not always all that respectful himself.

The judge, a former Miami state representative, once duked it out with a fellow representative on the floor of the state House in Tallahassee.

It was democracy — doled out with an iron hand and caught on videotape.

The well-publicized fight occurred during a debate about school vouchers in the 1998 session.

Republican Rodriguez-Chomat fast-walked toward fellow lawmaker Carlos Valdes, also from Miami, and grabbed him by the tie. Then he yanked and pulled.

The scene turned into a free-for-all between the two as they grappled like wrestlers trying to get the upper hand.

House members and security guards rushed to the floor and separated them before blood was spilled.

Valdes, now a real-estate agent, wouldn’t comment about the fracas. Neither did he want to say anything about Rodriguez-Chomat’s national headlines-grabbing encounter with Penelope Soto, 18, who flipped off Rodriguez-Chomat as he held her in contempt.

“Enough has been said about both incidents,” Valdes said.

But in interviews at the time of the incident, Valdes accused Rodriguez-Chomat of calling him a “jackass.”

Imagine the sentence Judge Rodriguez-Chomat would mete out to someone who’d done that.

Rodriguez-Chomat’s approval ratings among attorneys, according to numbers collected by the Dade Country Bar Association in 2010, were the second-lowest among 99 judges. Forty-six percent of area lawyers polled said they think he is unqualified for the bench.

Rodriguez-Chomat does not comment about cases before him.

This man is not a hero, he is a despicable cretin who not only should not be sentencing small girls to jail to satisfy his power lust, but should be in jail himself for depriving innocent people of their life, liberty, and property. This man's actions were that of a despicable petty tyrant, shame on anyone who is taking this cretin's side.

Update: Apparently, the legislator he was arguing with was also in the right, he pointed out Rodriguez-Chomat was a hypocrite by advocating against school vouchers while simultaneously sending his own children to private school, that harsh truth apparently triggered Rodriguez-Chomat to fly into a violent rage. It's hard to believe this man was made a judge in spite of his violent history.
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